From an article at Slashdot:"According to the latest study by USA Today and Avantgarde, it takes less than 4 minutes for an unpatched Windows XP SP1 system to become part of a botnet. Avantgarde has the statistics in their abstract.
Stats of note: Although Macs and PC's got hit with equal opportunity,
the XP SP1 machine was hit with 5 LSASS and 4 DCOM exploits while the
Mac remained clean. The Linux desktop also was impenetrable, but only
was only targeted by 0.26% of all attacks." See also our story on the survival time for unpatched systems.

"The BBC reports that a report by Demos says that the all-consuming passions of geeks and nerds may actually be beneficial for society. The UK think tank's report published today,
underlines the importance of 'Pro-Ams' -- amateurs who pursue a hobby
or pastime, in many cases an all-consuming passion, to a professional
standard. The report says Pro-Am astronomers have made 'significant
contributions' to the knowledge of the universe, while Pro-Am computer
programmers are providing the only serious challenge to Microsoft's
dominance of personal computing."

From an article in the washington Post today:
"The health of the Chesapeake Bay remains dismal, with key indicators
like dissolved oxygen, water clarity and oyster populations still far
below acceptable levels, according to a State of the Bay report
released today."

"PHILADELPHIA -- A
tanker spilled 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Delaware River
between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, creating a 12-mile-long
slick that threatened fish and birds, Coast Guard officials said
Saturday.">